How to Make Shampoo Soap Bars

Natural Hair Care

If you've been making your own cold process soap and using it in your shower, how about using your soap as a shampoo?

Many people use their cold process soap as a shampoo bar as well. But hair is different than skin, so you need to do a few things differently in order to have the best results. Most soap makers recommend:

Formulating your recipe differently—both in terms of the oils chosen, but in the additives and superfat percentage

Using a vinegar or citric acid rinse

Knowing that some people's hair just doesn't work well with real soap—and being okay with going back to a standard surfactant-based shampoo. There are so many variants, like the hardness of the water where you live and your particular hair type, that they just don't work for everyone.

Homemade Shampoo Recipes

First, for the best results on your hair, there are a few changes you can make to your regular soap recipe that will help your soap work better on hair. Castor oil makes great shampoo, as do the softer oils like avocado, canola, and almond.

Here are three recipes to get you started. Feel free to customize them or use similar oils that you may have on hand. (For example, you can easily substitute palm kernel for the coconut, or rice bran for the olive, or lard for the palm.)

Included are the percentages of each ingredient to make a 2 lb. batch of soap. They can be scaled up or down according to your needs.

Note: The superfat/lye discount is calculated at 6 percent for these recipes. Some people prefer a low (3 percent or so) superfat in their shampoo bars, others prefer a high (10 to 15 percent) superfat in their recipes. Give 6 percent a try and then adjust up or down depending on your preference. Be sure to always run your recipe through a lye calculator! These recipes will still all probably take at least 48 hours to harden in your soap mold.

Basic, Mild Shampoo Recipe

25 percent coconut oil

25 percent olive oil

20 percent castor oil

15 percent canola oil

15 percent palm oil

To make a 2-lb batch:

5.8 ounces coconut oil

5.8 ounces olive oil

4.6 ounces castor oil

3.5 ounces canola oil

3.5 ounces palm oil

3.2 ounces sodium hydroxide

6.4 ounces water

3/4 tsp of salt (to make the soap get harder quicker)

1 tsp of sugar (to boost the lather)

1 ounce of fragrance or essential oil blend

Light Cleansing Recipe

30 percent coconut oil

25 percent olive oil

25 percent castor oil

10 percent palm oil

10 percent canola oil

To make a 2-lb batch:

6.9 ounces coconut oil

5.8 ounces olive oil

5.8 ounces castor oil

2.3 ounces palm oil

2.3 ounces canola coil

3.2 ounces sodium hydroxide

6.4 ounces water

3/4 tsp of salt (to make the soap get harder quicker)

1 tsp of sugar (to boost the lather)

1 ounce of fragrance or essential oil blend

Luxury Shampoo Recipe

25 percent coconut oil

20 percent olive oil

20 percent castor oil

10 percent canola oil

10 percent avocado oil

10 percent palm oil

5 percent jojoba

To make a 2-lb batch:

5.8 ounces coconut oil

4.6 ounces olive oil

4.6 ounces castor oil

2.3 ounces canola oil

2.3 ounces avocado oil

2.3 ounces palm oil

1.2 ounces jojoba

3.1 ounces sodium hydroxide

6.2 ounces water

3/4 tsp of salt (to make the soap get harder quicker)

1 tsp of sugar (to boost the lather)

1 ounce of fragrance or essential oil blend

To make these soaps, follow basic soap making instructions. The amount of water in these recipes are low so that they will harden quicker in the molds. The high percentage of soft oils in the recipes can make them take a while to harden in the mold.

You'll want to make sure to add the salt and the sugar to the lye water. The salt helps the soap to get harder quicker and the sugar helps boost the lathering ability of the soap.

Rinse

Because of the high pH of cold process soap, most people use a slightly acidic rinse on their hair after using a shampoo bar. The high pH raises the cuticle of the hair follicle, making it more prone to damage. The rinse helps lay it back down.

You can make the rinse out of either:

1 cup vinegar (apple cider or white) to 2 cups water or

1 tbsp. citric acid powder to 3 cups water

Give shampoo bars a try. Some people rave about them; some people like them, but prefer a traditional shampoo.